Congratulations to Villagers for winning the Irish album of the year prize 2013 last night in Vicar Street at the Meteor Choice Music Prize event.
As one of 12 judges on the night, I was directly involved in choosing the winner and while I can’t go into specifics about the process, I will say that the three hours deliberation was inclusive, thoughtful, reasonable and logical with the judges maintaining an objective point of view as much as possible in their decision.
I think it’s fair to say {Awayland} is a noble winner of the prize. The nominated albums and a playlist are in this post.
Villagers received a cheque for €10,000, a prize which has been provided by the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) and the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA)
Here’s some photos from last night. RTE 2 Television will broadcast a one-hour highlights programme of the Meteor Choice Music Prize on Sunday March 2nd at 10.25pm.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
